Charlize Theron’s Andy character in Netflix’s movie The Old Guard has impressed fans as the kickass leader of a band of immortals who helped protect the earth from bad guys for many centuries.
As well as being the leader, she’s also the eldest member of this exclusive group. But exactly how old is Andy?
The movie is adapted from a comic book series created in 2017 by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez. Theron stars alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger.
The story follows a group of immortals, not superheroes, as they battle various threats to humanity, acting like a bunch of well-meaning mercenaries who never die.
Of these immortals, Theron’s character of Andy is described as the oldest. Unfortunately, without a birth certificate at hand, it’s proving quite tricky to pin down an exact age.
So how old is Andy?
This answer is not simple. It depends on whether or not you’re following the information from the Netflix movie or from Rucka and Fernandez’s graphic novel.
Let’s focus on the movie for starters. Andy’s full title is referenced in a scene near the end of the film when she’s described as Andromache of Scythia, or Andy for short. So who, what, where, or when was Scythia?
The Scythians were thought to have originated in Iran as far back as the 9th Century BCE. That means their existence was approximately 10,000 years ago. They didn’t stay in their original country, though, as these people were nomadic and traveled west to populate the Pontic Steppe, a vast grassland that stretches across Ukraine and southern Russia.
The Scythians are thought to have founded their empire in what is modern-day Crimea in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, and lasting until the 4th or 2nd century BCE. So if Andy is from this empire, then she’d be anywhere between four thousand and nine thousand years old.
The comic books reveal Andromache’s real age
While the Netflix movie never reveals the exact age of Charlize Theron’s character, the comic books do. In fact, they couldn’t really be any more specific. Andy is 6,732 years old.
There are two figures from ancient Greek mythology who are known as Andromache, so perhaps one of these is our Andy. The first is Andromache as the wife of Trojan prizefighter Hector (as played by Eric Bana in 2004’s Troy), who was killed by Achilles (Brad Pitt).
However, the second Andromache is perhaps more likely to be our lady. She was known as the Queen of the Amazons and believed to be from the Northeast, which could be perceived as the direction of Crimea.
However, the real question everyone is asking is, will Netflix be commissioning an Old Guard sequel? Follow this link to find out the likelihood of these characters returning to our screens.
The Old Guard is currently available to watch on Netflix.